I love it in DB. Brilliant for kids but agree that schooling is difficult as the two primary schools there are well booked out and unless you can pay the debenture price, unlikely to get in. If you can negotiate a debenture through your work (or husband's work) then I would ask about that. The ESF school which is designated for DB is Bradbury which is a 40 min bus trip away and Bradbury is very full as well. There is an ESF school in DB but it is the only one without a catchment policy so can take kids from anywhere in HK and you are not guaranteed a spot by living in DB.

If you want more info on DB let me know and I'd be happy to PM you my experiences. We spent 2 years in the New Territories (near Gold Coast), 5 years in Midlevels and 1 in DB so far.

So we are now living in HK, I got here last Saturday. We are currently staying in a serviced apartment in Causeway Bay and I have started looking around different areas we may move to. On Sunday we went to Stanley which I really liked, but today I went to Discovery Bay which I loved. I just wondered if anyone living in DB can answer this question. My husband said people at work have said one thing we need to consider is during Typhoon season they are known to stop the ferries. So I wondered if anyone knows anything about this, how often it happens usually and how long it goes on for?

I have not experienced a typhoon causing the ferries to stop but have only lived in DB a little over a year. You can still catch the MTR to Sunny Bay and then a bus from Sunny Bay direct to DB so that is what I would be doing if there was a typhoon 8. Usually the HK observatory gives you some warning that they will be raising the signal to an 8 (which means people can leave work and go home) and I understand that the ferries run for a while after that but there is still the MTR/bus option.

If you have any other DB related questions then happy to answer here or by PM. I was a big DB hater when we lived in mid-levels pre children but am now loving it since we have a family (although note the schooling concerns I raised above).

Hi Starbucks - thanks for the info on DB. I think it is definitely narrowed down now to either DB or Stanley. So I was just wondering if you can give me a bit more info on the schools in DB.
My Son will be 3 in May, so is he likely to get into a kindergarden on DB itself or am I likely to have to go over to Hong Kong Island each day?
At what age do they start proper primary school? If it is 4/5 as in the UK my son would be due to start Sept 2012, so do you think even if I got his name down now he would not get into a school on DB?

His schooling I think is going to be a bit issue for us as I wouldn't want to move there to then have to take him over on a ferry or a 40 min bus journey every day to school.

Any help on this would be great - or if anyone else has experience with this your comments would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, my son has just turned 3 and we have him on the waitlist to start at DBIS in August but no chance as he has only been on the list for 1.5 years (its crazy ...). If you pay the debenture at DBIS then you could still get in for the August intake. If that is an option then I'd suggest you give them a call to find out how much it is. Can't recall exact amount but it was too much for us. There are other options for kindergarten 1 (ie: our sons' first year) in DB - DMK Kindergarten and the new Montessori school in DB North Plaza. Not sure what availability is like for the August 2011 year but you could email them. We are hoping our son will get into DMK. DMK and Mntessori do three years which gives you some time to wait and get into the primary schools in DB. I come from a country where kids start school at 5 years old so am a bit relaxed about K1 options.

Another option could be Tung Chung because you don't have to rely on the ferry...and it's a bus ride to DB. There's also an MTR and shopping is very convenient. There's a DMK near here too...I don't know too much about schooling yet as our little one just turned 14 months. There's a direct shuttle bus into the city which you need to join a "club" to buy the tickets which cost the same as the MTR if you choose the Caribbean Coast complex for the business hours. We just moved here a month ago and love it!